Lee Daniels: 'I Wanted to Kill Myself As a Kid'

Lee Daniels has talked about his sexuality in the past and today he's opening up about his painful childhood.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, The Butler director said he wanted to kill himself as a kid because of the bullying he went through for being gay.

"You know, the universe has been kind to me," said Daniels. "I had a rough childhood growing up—very rough. Oftentimes I wanted to kill myself as a kid. You know, I was bullied because I was gay and then I was bullied because I was Black going to an all-white school later on. Thank God I didn't kill myself, huh? I think that the universe took care and God took care of me. I am the product of that environment."

Earlier this year, Daniels told Larry King that Black gay men often don't come out of the closet because of negative environments they live in—churches, family and more can hinder coming out.

In 2013, many of our favorite celebrities talked about the difficulties of being gay in Hollywood. Back in October, Wanda Sykes described herself as the "trifecta of discrimination" because of being a Black, gay and a woman. And in April, basketball star Jason Collins made history as the first active NBA player to come out of closet. He officially came out in a first person essay in Sport Illustrated. His story was met with mixed reactions from both the public and his fellow NBA players.

And late yesterday, Good Morning America anchor Robin Roberts came out as gay by thanking her longtime girlfriend, Amber, in a short Facebook post. Roberts acknowledged Amber's help during the past year of her life. The pair met through mutual friends and have been together for 10 years.